Chanting is a practice in Shambhala Buddhism. One aspect is mindfulness of speech and being in unison with the voices of others. We pay attention to how we pronounce words. Most importantly it is a practice of mindfulness – awareness (shamatha-vipashyana). The words we are chanting are profound teachings of the Shambhala Buddhist lineage. They are teachings of how to wake ourselves up, have compassion for ourselves and others and how to create a good human community. As we chant, the wisdom of the words penetrate our being. If we can open to the wisdom of the words, we can begin to embody this wisdom in our lives.
As part of our Sunday morning meditation practice, we chant 5 – 10 minutes, usually in English but depending on the language of who is in attendance we also at times chant in Spanish. Some chants that we regularly chant are:
- PROCLAMATION OF GOODNESS
- SUPPLICATION TO THE SHAMBHALA LINEAGE
- HOMAGE
- SHAMBHALA PROTECTOR CHANT
- SUPPLICATION FOR THE LONGEVITY OF THE SAKYONG MIPHAM RINPOCHE
- ASPIRATION OF SHAMBHALA
- SHAMBHALA DEDICATION OF MERIT
We also have chanting booklets available.